"Lord, we ain't what we want to be; we ain't what we ought to be; we ain't what we gonna be; but, thank God, we ain't what we was."
~Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., quoting from a prayer from a preacher who had once been a slave, in a speech to the Hawaii Legislature in 1959

For October 20, 2008

"The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes - and we must."
~President Jimmy Carter

For May 19, 2008

“In the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.
The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.”
~John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911) Dissenting opinion, Plessy v. Ferguson 163 U.S. 537, 559 (1896).

For January 21, 2008

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
~Martin Luther King Jr.

For July 30, 2007

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."
~Henry James

For June 4, 2007

“The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning you’re not old.”
~Rosalyn S. Yalow

For May 28, 2007

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."
~Thucydides

For May 21, 2007

"No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless."
~Denis Waitley

For May 7, 2007

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
~John Wooden

For April 16, 2007

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."
~Jackie Robinson

For April 9, 2007

"On my income tax 1040 it says 'Check this box if you are blind.' I wanted to put a check mark about three inches away."
~Tom Lehrer
[Happy 79th!]

For April 2, 2007

"You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen."
~Joe DiMaggio, on Opening Day

[Go Mariners!!]

For February 26, 2007

"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest."
~Larry Lorenzoni

For February 19, 2007

[In honor of this week's holiday...] "Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser - in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough."
~Abraham Lincoln

For January 15, 2007

"It's snowing still. And freezing. However, we haven't had an earthquake lately."
~Winnie The Pooh (A.A. Milne)

For January 1, 2007

"New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."
~Mark Twain

For November 27, 2006:

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.

Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."
~Albert Schweitzer

For November 6, 2006:

"It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish."
~J.R.R. Tolkien

For September 11, 2006:

"Justice without strength is helpless, strength without justice is tyrannical..."
~Blaise Pascal

For September 4, 2006:

[In honor of all those going back to school this week...]
"Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog."
~Doug Larson

Disclaimer

PLEASE NOTE:

This blog is made available by the lawyer publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Blog publisher. The linked sites are not under the control of the Law Office of D. Jill Pugh and the Office is not responsible for the contents of any linked site. The Blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. D. Jill Pugh is licensed to practice law in the State of Washington only.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LAW OFFICE OF D. JILL PUGH IS CLOSED DUE TO MEDICAL REASONS

In this week's newsletter from Mayor McGinn, I learned that Seattle and King County are offering Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training scholoarships to traditionally underrepresented diverse individuals interested in becoming EMTs. The flyer with more details about the program can be downloaded from the web. The first class begins August 15th. This opportunity only is available two times a year. (Our law office has no connection to this training, just wanted to pass along the opportunity.)

Now that Congress recently approved another extension to federal unemployment benefits (finally!), obviously those receiving benefits want to know if they qualify for the extension. Washington's Employment Security Department Employment Security Department recently issued a press release asking claimants to not call the claims center to inquire about their eligibility.

Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in about a week the Department will mail information to everyone who is potentially eligible for the extended benefits. It will take some time for the Department to recode the benefits into the computer system and review each claimant's status. They are asking folks to not call and clog up the phone lines - that way there will be lines available for the newly unemployed who need to open new claims.

The extension does not increase the total weeks of benefits available, so if you have already exhausted your claim the federal extension will not be of benefit. There is a fact sheet available with more information on extended benefits.

I ran across a brief PR item from Grey Hair Management about the results of a 2007 survey of 548 senior level executive managers. A majority of those who responded believed age discrimination is severe to moderate in the workplace, while 21.8 believe that it is mild or almost never happens.

Many of those surveyed believed they had lost a job opportunity because of their age, and only 2.2 percent of the executives believed age was never an issue in hiring decisions.

While the data in this survey is a little old, it certainly matches the reports I am hearing from callers to my office. Other surveys are producing similar information - a 2009 survey of executives by ExecuNet produced similar responses.

Recently released reports from the EEOC regarding its 2009 statistics for charges of discrimination filed mirrors my experiences here in Washington. The agency saw the second highest number of complaints of discrimination filed (93,277) in its history (FY 2009 ends in September). Potentially reflecting a more active (due to the Obama administration) and more re-energized agency, the EEOC also resolved the second highest number of charges per available investigator in the past 20 years.

Inc. discussed the report and several commentators pointed to the recession as part of the reason for the increase. Certainly I got lots of calls from people who were terminated as part of their company's financial decline - some of them had grounds for discrimination claims and many did not. Inc. pointed out that claims filed regarding pregnancy discrimination were up 30% since 2005. I have also experienced a significant increase in calls from women who were terminated shortly after their supervisors learned of their pregnancy or some who were "downsized" while out on maternity leave, even though they had the most seniority and had no history of disciplinary or performance problems. Age and minority discrimination complaints were up 20%.

On January 11, 2010, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously in favor of forming a 16 member Seattle Commission for People with Disabilities. This advisory commission joins the Seattle Women's Commission and the Seattle LGBT Commission.

The Commission's duties will include advising city government and departments about issues relating to people with disabilities; ensuring the accessibility of City services and facilities; to make recommendations to the City; and to help encourage understanding and foster communication regarding disability issues. The Commission has its own website, describing its mission and posting dates of community events.

While an independent body, the Commission will receive staff and support from the Seattle Office of Civil Rights (SOCR). The SOCR website has quite a bit of helpful information, including how to file a complaint of discrimination. SOCR also publishes an informative newsletter, to which anyone can subscribe.

I recently spoke to the Puget Sound Hospitality Human Resources Association as part of a panel discussing "social media." I was there to talk about good employer policies, and that is a post for another day. What was fascinating to me was the information from Seattle area recruiter Kristen Fife and from the human resources managers in the audience. It is clear that social media/social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming a very popular way to fill job vacancies. Not only are newspaper classifieds becoming obsolete, it sounds as though many of the online job classified websites are as well.

What's more, social media is also an invaluable tool for researching a company with whom you have an interview. Just one place to learn about this - among the thousands of resources out there - is local recruiting blog "Seattle Recruiting."

And, as part of a recurring set of posts for this blog, here is a sampling of the many job openings out there that I "retweeted" this week (as of today these links are live):

A recent article made note of a nationwide survey of human resource managers (conducted by Society for Human Resources Management) which found 60% of employers surveyed ran credit checks on some applicants. Given the downturn in the economy and the financial difficulties mass layoffs have caused many families, this is of great concern.

Fortunately, if you are a resident of Washington State, relatively recent legislation (2008) regulates when and how a potential employer may make an inquiry into an applicant's credit history. In general, an employer may only request a credit check if the information is substantially job related and the employer's reasons for requesting the information must be disclosed to the employee/applicant. There are specific notice requirements and steps that must be followed.

Federal law requires written permission to obtain a credit check in all 50 states. As far as I know, as of today only two states - Hawaii and Washington - have laws to further regulate credit checks in employment situations.

I would add a couple more things to avoid doing as a departing or planning on departing employee:

9. Assume the noncompete you signed isn't legal anyway. Even if it seems unfair, and even if you have searched the internet and found *lots* of information that "courts don't enforce noncompetes", don't believe it. The courts DO enforce them (outside of California, anyway) and your belief is not a legal argument that will get you anywhere.

10. Don't ask to review your personnel file before you leave. It is always possible that there was a noncompete or a nondisclosure agreement in that stack of 40 different forms you had to sign during orientation. Better to know about it before you make any decisions you can't change. Washington law says an employer must allow an employee to review her/his file, so don't take no for an answer.

Washington State's Department of Licensing maintains a case record on every person licensed to operate a motor vehicle in Washington. These records contain information relating to a person's driving record. Until the last legislative session, there were pretty narrow restrictions on when an employer could obtain a copy of an employee's (or applicant's) record.

Prior to August 2009, an employer could obtain the driving record for those employed in or applying for a position that could "require the transportation of children under eighteen years of age, adults over sixty-five years of age, or persons with mental or physical disabilities." As of August 2009, an employer may obtain the case records any time where driving is a "condition of employment" for the employee or applicant.

The amendments do require that the employer not divulge the records to third parties (though there are exceptions for insurance companies).

Washington
State’s minimum wage remains at $8.55 per hour due to a voter initiative passed
in 1998 which requires the state minimum wage be adjusted for inflation each
year according to the change in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage
Earners and Clerical Workers during the twelve months ending August 31.The index decreased during the twelve month
period of September 2008 through August 2009.This is the first time since the initiative passed that there has been
no increase in the state’s minimum wage. (You can find a history of Washington’s
Minimum Wage here)

Washington is one of just 10 states that adjusts its minimum
wage based on inflation.One of the
other states, Colorado, actually lowered its minimum wage by 3 cents for 2010 –
from $7.28 per hour to $7.25 per hour.